Professor Ivan Blackwater, Grand Arch Mage of Naraka, Liberator of Khalot, King of the Blackwater Kingdom, and Slayer of Grom
Ivan's Childhood Ivan Blackwater was born in the mystical realm known as the Feywild , in the bustling city of Cendriane. When he was pulled from the womb, he was incredibly hot and began to steam. The nurses checked for any signs Ivan was in pain, but he appeared to be perfectly fine, just hot. He was considered to have a heart of fire by his parents and believed it to be a good sign. That Ivan would have a spirit that would be unbreakable. A prophesy was formed around the time of Ivan's birth by a woman known as the Elder Sage that said that the newly born son of the Blackwater house would aid the one that would cause the destruction of the universe. This worried the Eladrin people of the Feywild , and there were many that attempted to kill this newborn in his crib, which of course all failed. This forced Ivan to be raised in secret by his mother and father, Cynthea and Isaac Blackwater who were not among the noble families of the city. His parents hid him as best they could in the lesser know, more populated areas of the city where they might be lost in the crowd, and forgotten about, and for the most part this works and the city assumed they skipped town by now. At the young age of six, Ivan was already becoming very rebellious. He was out for himself, did not obey his parents curfew, nor did he care about their attempts at hiding him from the world. He even once accidentally set fire to the house down the street from him when he attempted to cast a pyromancy spell. Whenever his parents would try to discipline him, he would use the powerful untrained magic within him to get his own way, like becoming invisible at just the right moment when his acts are stumbled upon. This magic was unfocused however, and led to many of Ivan's spells backfiring and causing him grievous injuries, but quickly, Ivan was learning how to channel his arcane energy. Ivan Leaves Home At the age of fifteen, Ivan's home city of Cendriane was attacked by foul creatures known as the "Fomorian " led by a large Fomorian known as the Fomorian King. The Fomorian maurauders entered the city and began mercilessly killing off any Eladrin they could get their hands on, all the while burning everything they could. The people of Cendriane fled in a mad panic to escape the Formorian attack, and when the city burned, Ivan fled, taking everything he needed with him and he never looked back. Ivan eventually became lost in the endless trees and vines of the Feywild , and somehow (Ivan still does not know how) Ivan spontaneously teleported from the Feywild to the mortal plane. Ivan appeared on the continent of Nuuvaka, before a large stone mage's tower that happened to be currently accepting new recruits. Ivan decided it was about time to become a true certified wizard and proclaimed it to be fate. He had always been magically talented, but it was now time for Ivan to learn how to focus his powers, and how to become even stronger in using the arcane arts. Ivan's Studies in the Mage's Tower Becoming accepted into the mage's tower was all too easy for Ivan, with his skill in casting the spells magic missile , prestidigitation , and his explosive fire spells. Ivan entered the tower, and began his study on the realms of magic, and decided to focus on the schools of pyromancy and transmutation magic during his time at the mage's tower, but he branched out and learned a wide range of spells, and it is here where Ivan received his first spellbook, and his first ritual book . Ivan was placed among the other war wizards within the tower that live and study on the fourth floor of the mage's tower. Ivan quickly became one of the most talented mages at the tower, and especially among the war wizards within the tower. He would often impress even the arch mage of the tower with his knowledge of the arcane, and the wide range of spells he knows. On a dark evening, in the back of the library of the mage's tower, Ivan came across an old dusty tome that he had never seen before. Ivan spent a lot of time within this library, and he would have noticed that book sitting there. The book detailed a greater god known as "Tharizdun , the chained god". The book talked of the chained god's need for worshipers to break the chains that bind him, and of his immense power. Ivan had never been particularly religious in his earlier years, mainly because his family and friends usually worshiped gods like Corellon, or Ioun. But the information this book contained facinated Ivan, and he decided to devote his worship to the chained god, and preach the worship of him to others in order to do his part in breaking the chains of the chained god. The Blood Mage While within the mage's tower, Ivan had a short romantic relationship with an elven girl named Talia when he was about 19 years old. She had been roughly Ivan's age, and the two had gotten along extremely well. She was Ivan's first love, but unfortunately they were not meant to be. Talia and Ivan were drawn together by their twin desire for greater power and sense of amusement with the casting of spells, but Talia was willing to go to far greater lengths than Ivan to achieve this power. Going so far as to practice the forbidden art of blood magic , a type of magic that is commonly known to lead to insanity. Talia began showing Ivan a more darker side of her that enjoyed the tormenting of others, and the disregard for anyone but herself and her magic. Ivan was unsure of what to do about Talia because of his love for her, but when Talia had grown so crazed with power that her spells ended up destroying the mage's tower, Ivan challenged her to a magical duel. He wanted revenge for the mage's tower, and all of his fellow mages that had been lost inside of it. Talia accepted the challenge, but her blood magic was far from focused, and she was not nearly powerful enough to wield it to its full potential, so Ivan defeated Talia in an epic magical duel to the death that Talia did not survive. As Talia's body burned, Ivan swore to himself that he would never love again, and that he would focus solely on his studies of the realms of magic. The Silver Light Order By now, Ivan was roughly 22 years old, and he was already becoming an experienced mage. He traveled across the land, earning his way by performing magic and making what money he could, when a regal-looking male Rakshasa approached Ivan. He introduced himself as Rekiel (ree-key-ell), and he showed a great interest in Ivan's skills as a magic user. He offered to teach Ivan how to harness his thoughts and emotions in order to manipulate the world around him. Ivan accepted, always willing to learn and master a new kind of magic. Ivan eventually was able to perform several psionic powers such as projecting a thought into someone else's mind, lighting a nearby flammable object on fire, and he could even lift small objects into the air and move them about using only his mind. Rekiel himself was a powerful psion , and he was the leader of an order of psions known as the "Silver Light Order". Also, because he is a Rakshasa, he has the ability to reincarnate himself upon being killed, and has lived for centuries because of it. Ivan had been taught for a short time by the silver light order, but they eventually wanted to indoctrinate Ivan into their order, and they were rather forceful. Ivan, on the other hand, did not want to join them. He would have to commit himself to their order, say vows, abandon titles, and essentially live the life of a slave to their order's wishes. Unfortunately, Rekiel does not take "No." for an answer, and the Silver Light Order began to hunt down Ivan in order to force him into their order, or kill him. Rekiel claims that it was Ivan's choice for the order to pursue him, and that he painfully regrets that it must come to this. Ivan has actually managed to kill Rekiel three separate times, and yet Ivan is still pursued by Rekiel and the Silver Light Order. Arriving on Khalot Ivan Blackwater arrived on the island continent of Khalot when he was around the age of seventy-four in an attempt to escape from Rekiel, and his psionic servants. He arrived by boat at the docks of the city of Garuthar, and met with two other individuals; Colby Fairscale and Errol Holmes. They instantly bonded and decided to travel along with one another, but before long the trio could feel the oppressive atmosphere of the town, and they decided to leave immediately. The party ventured south along the road to the town of Sargot, a small town several hours from Garuthar. When they had arrived they found that the town was under attack by a giant spider. The trio leaped into action and an epic battle ensued. Ivan with his arcane magic, Colby with his sword, and Errol with his healing magic. After the three of them had slain the giant spider, the town had proclaimed them to be their saviors. The townspeople then told the group of the tyranny of King Grom, and of how he had taken away their women and children to god knows where. The townspeople begged the group for their help in combating King Grom, and getting their loved ones back to them. Ivan, Colby, and Errol agreed to this, and began preparing the town's defenses for the next time King Grom's forces should approach Sargot. The Battle of First Blood When the town of Sargot was preparing itself for battle by fortifying its walls and setting up guard towers, the city of Garuthar sent a platoon of armed guards south down the road to Sargot, but they were surprised when they were met by the forces of Sargot being led by the trio Ivan, Colby, and Errol. The forces clashed, and the battle raged. The trio even had a necromancer named Terrence assisting them during the fight. He had been living inside of a crypt within the town of Sargot when the party had arrived and had offered his assistance when the attack began. Eventually, the platoon of guards sent by Garuthar were defeated, and the town of Sargot remained a free city for one more day. But with the evil King Grom still alive, the war was not over, and the town of Sargot began rebuilding it's forces, and fortifying it's walls. Every day was another chance for an attack on the town, so the party had to be vigilant at all times, keeping a constant watch. Attack on Grom's Camp With enough assembled townsfolk from Libero and rebels, along with the small kobold army assembled by Colby, the trio decided it was finally time to save the women and children that the evil King Grom had taken away. The party marched on the encampment where the group had been told the women and children were being kept, but they were met in battle by King Grom himself before they could even enter the encampment. The party engaged King Grom in combat, but every attempt at hitting King Grom proved useless when a blue sheen passed over his body, protecting him from harm. Even Ivan's magic missiles, which are known for their impressive accuracy, could not harm Grom. The trio retreated with their remaining forces and fled to safety, away from the immortal King Grom. The attack proved to be a failure, but the party didn't give up. Later, the party came to a city in an effort to restock on supplies when they saw several humans forcing a wolf to fight a giant spider, similar to the spider that had attacked the town of Libero. The wolf appeared to have a blue sheen that passed over it when the spider attacked it, but this sheen appeared to be weaker than the one King Grom used. The shield was apparently generated from a magical crystal that could sustain a certain spell, like a protection spell, without the caster having to cast it themselves. The crystals were extremely volatile though, and dropping one could cause it to explode with magical energy. The Tide Turns By this time Ivan, Colby, and Errol are leading a full blown rebellion against the evil King Grom. They have the backing of two dracoliches, a Grandlich, a kobold and human army, and they even know King Grom's ultimate secret to being impervious. In a blink of an eye, the crystal protecting King Grom is teleported away from the group by Terrence the Grandlich. It then appears several hundred feet above King Grom's hideout. When the giant crystal hits the ground, it explodes with an earth-shattering intensity that causes everything in a several hundred foot radius to be blasted away. The trio and their army then teleported to what remained of the wreckage and fought King Grom in the ruins of his Hold. Khalot is Free With the death of King Grom at the hands of the liberators of Khalot , and his remains crafted into Ivan's famous Grom Staff (a staff with the sentient head of Grom attached to the end that spits out the magic), the trio decided that the kingdom of Khalot was to be split up into four different sections, each governed by a separate king, and each king being one of the leaders of the rebellion. The eastern section was given to the arch necromancer Terrence, which had been his territory before but he now could be assured that he would not be troubled. The western section was given to Errol Holmes, whom set up a network of mazes and traps in the forest he decided to reside in where he became one with nature. This eventually became known as the forest of Tales. The northern section was given to Ivan Blackwater, whom set up a mage's tower in the city of Garuthar bigger than any mage's tower ever constructed that reached that skies, and was taller than even the castle. Here anyone possessed of magical abilities could stay and learn magic here and hone their art to become accomplished sorcerers, warlocks, swordmages, and wizards. The southern section was given to Colby Fairscale whose population grew immensely with the number of kobolds that lived there. In the center of each of these kingdoms was the town of Sargot (now known as the free city of Libero). The city of Libero was ruled by each king of Khalot equally, but their leadership was only needed in the event of an emergency, or the situation demanded it. Otherwise the town (which eventually grew to become a city) was considered neutral ground and did not have a leader, allowing the residents to simply go about their life. The Blackwater Kingdom When Ivan Blackwater was declared to be the King of Garuthar, and the surrounding land declared to be the Blackwater Kingdom, Ivan began work on an extremely large mage's tower in the center of the city. This tower would be for any arcane user that wished to study the realms of magic within, free of persecution. In the western side of the city of Garuthar, the Blackwater castle was constructed several years after King Grom's death. Ivan Blackwater spends most of his time at this mage's tower, or off exploring the world. Ivan also had a very large factory built right next to the mage's tower were Grom's inventions were manufactured at large. Additionally, construction began on the city of Maythorp in the northern part of the Blackwater Kingdom to expand the population. In the city of Garuthar, next to the mage's tower, is the world's largest known assembly of knowledge and literature ever to be contained in a single library. It was created by the King of Garuthar, Ivan Blackwater a year after Khalot had been freed, and it was to be a fountain of knowledge for all the world to enjoy. Ivan believed that the common people were very easily swayed by charismatic or intelligent figures, and the people were open to suggestion or manipulation if not properly educated in the ways of the world. This library contains every known genre of book divided into organized categories, and the number of books it contains range in the hundred-thousands. Over time, the magic and knowledge brought to the kingdom caused a surge in arcane advancement. New formulas were being crafted, new spells were being formed, and magic users from all over the world came to the Grand Mage's Tower in Garuthar to learn and share their techniques. Ivan's Schools for the Magically Gifted After the events of Khalot , his marriage, and the birth of his first son Devrin Blackwater, Ivan began travelling the world setting up schools and towers that would train the users of magic, to teach them how to properly control and use their powers. The schools were known as Arcane Sanctums, and they practice every single one of the various schools of magic (except blood magic, which is banned from all mages towers and arcane sanctums). A common mage's tower has an entire floor devoted to a single school of magic, like pyromancy or necromancy. Anyone capable of performing magic would be allowed to enter an arcane sanctum and be taught by the mages within. Anyone attempting to enter an arcane sanctum or one of Ivan's mage's towers without permission, or without first having proved their arcane talent will be repelled magically and physically by powerful enchantments and the members of the school or tower. Each of the mage's tower has it's own arch mage that governs the tower. They would be a powerful magic user, hand-selected by Ivan Blackwater himself. Among the arch mages of the various mage's towers Ivan would be considered to be the "Grand Arch Mage", as he has reigning authority over each tower and it's members. Each of the schools have their own headmaster, but Ivan Blackwater would have reigning authority over all of them. Each headmaster or arch mage has the ability to mentally send Ivan Blackwater a distress message, in the event of an emergency. Ivan however, will not be able to respond back to them without the use of a high level ritual, but he will be able to know which headmaster or arch mage sent which mental message. Protecting each of the arcane sanctums are powerful enchantments ment to defend the school at all costs. Guardian Statues that decorate the arcane sanctums come to life and begin defending the school upon the announcal of the secret word that activates the enchantment. This word is only given to two people; the headmaster of the particular Arcane Sanctum, and his/her most trusted member of the school. There are usually around forty-five Guardian Statues guarding each of the Arcane Sanctums. Protecting the mage's towers are more powerful defensive enchantments than a regular Arcane Sanctum. Surrounding each tower is a protective ward casted by Ivan Blackwater himself that prevents anyone from entering who does not have permission to enter. Additionally, with the announcal of the secret word given only to the Arch Mage of the tower, Crystal Golems form from raw arcane energy stored within a tower and begin defending the tower at all costs. There are usually around sixty-five Cyrstal Golems guarding each and every mage's tower. On the island nation of Khalot, in the city of Garuthar, the mage's tower has by far the most powerful defensive enchantments ever placed on a mage's tower. After twenty years, there had been over two-hundred arcane sanctums set up all over Naraka, and roughly around twenty mage's towers. Ivan often spent time traveling the land, preaching the worship of the greater god, Tharizdun and fortifying the various mage's towers and arcane sanctums. He would even sometimes gift a lucky young mage with a magical item, crafted by Arch Mage Ivan Blackwater himself. Many merchants value these magical items higher than the standard versions of the magical item on the grounds that it had been made by a powerful mage, rather than a common one. When Ivan had assumed enough power, he was able to travel to the elemental plane of fire, where he did battle with an evil primordial known as Imix, the Prince of evil fire creatures. This primordial claimed to be the spawn of the Elder Elemental Eye, which Ivan knew to be an aspect of the chained god, Tharizdun. Having a like-ness for Tharizdun, Ivan bound the powerful primordial to the Grand Mage's Tower, and it would appear to defend the tower with it's life, but only when called forth by Ivan Blackwater himself, or in the event that the tower should be destroyed. Terrence's Final Gift to Ivan Before Ivan Blackwater left the island of Khalot on his mission to set up arcane sanctums and mage's towers throughout the land, Terrence the Grandlich placed a powerful magical spell on Ivan's body. This spell would lie dormant until triggered by Ivan's death, and is very difficult to detect by an average mage. When the dormant spell is triggered, Ivan's body will reform, if damaged, and will be teleported away to Terrence's exact location. From there, Terrence vowed that he will resurrect Ivan using the same magic he used to resurrect Ivan's body guards during the events of the Khalot rebellion. This was to be Terrence's last gift to Ivan, as their days of fighting together in a war were now over. The two said their goodbye's, and Ivan left Terrence's forest for the very last time. For Ivan would never return there, and he would never again see his old friend. Devrin's Regeancy While his father, the rightful king of the Blackwater Kingdom, was out exploring the world, preaching the worship of Tharizdun and setting up schools and towers devoted to the teaching of magic users, Devrin Blackwater was placed in charge of the entire kingdom, until his father should return. Devrin was only eighteen years old at the time, but he was already starting to become a powerful warlock, on top of already having a fairly high rank within the Grand Mage's Tower in Garuthar. Devrin Blackwater reigned as king for six months, before a female member of an assassin group known as the Everblack Cult infiltrated the Grand Mage's Tower in Garuthar. Her plan was to seduce Eric Blackwater, second son of the great Ivan Blackwater and prince of the Blackwater Kingdom, and have him turn on his older brother, Devrin Blackwater, who currently sat the throne. After Eric Blackwater would assume the throne, she would exploit the boy until she could find no further use for him. This plan almost turned out to be a success, but when the moment came Eric Blackwater was unwilling to kill his own brother and instead drove his longsword through the female assassin's heart. Ivan Ascends in Power When Ivan reached the age of one-hundred and sixty-seven, he gained the ability to teleport himself, or those around him to another dimension entirely. With this, he was able to travel to the different dimensions within Naraka at-will, allowing him to unlock an unlimited supply of strange and arcane knowledge. Eventually, while hopping through the various dimensions, Ivan came across an immensely powerful creature native to the Far Realm known by some as Xyza. Ivan was at the age of two-hundred and seventy-four, but Xyza had been stronger than any being Ivan had ever encountered, and might have even bested him in a straight-up fight, but Ivan was clever. Ivan mocked the creature and laughed, claiming that Xyza was unfortunate to have crossed his path, and that he can steal the creature's very soul with a single thought, but luckily he was in a good mood on that morning and challenged Xyza to a battle of wits instead. If he won, he could do what he wished with Ivan and he would not fight back, but if Ivan should win, the creature must tell him every dark secret he knew of. Xyza was about to refuse and simply kill Ivan, but Ivan had mocked his intelligence, and this mere mortal could not hope to stand before his god-like intelligence, so the mortal's odds were slim. In fact, he figured it might even be interesting to toy with the mortal before killing him. The being accepted, and the two began a battle of minds that lasted for a full human year. Finally, Xyza could take no more, and surrendered. He agreed to gift Ivan with the secret of immortality, so that Ivan would no longer be just a mere mortal in the eyes of the cosmos. It also agreed to teach Ivan a mysterious and ancient power that would allow him to leave this existence entirely. In essence, he taught Ivan how to teleport himself out of his universe's continuity, and into another universe's continuity. An existence with all new dimensions and realms that have yet to be explored by the mortals of Naraka. With this new found power, Ivan decided to spare the creature, and Ivan ordered him to stay out of his way, before Ivan teleported away. When Ivan was at the age of six-hundred and eighty, he performed this new-found power on the god of friendship, the god of madness, and the goddess of life to teleport them away from Naraka, and into the world of Arrion. This was to ensure that the remaining gods of Naraka survive the destruction of the their universe caused by the war among the gods. The Greater Staff of Time When Ivan was at the age of seven-hundred and eighty-one, he forged a magical staff from the branch of an elder treant of the Feywild , a frost-covered blue crystal pulled from the Elemental Chaos , and the salted blood of a pit fiend . He fused these items together, and placed an immensely powerful enchantment upon the staff that would allow the user to manipulate the flow of time. The enchantment placed on the staff was a more powerful version of a regular Staff of Time . This staff, however, would only respond to Ivan Blackwater himself. This was to ensure that the staff would not be used for evil purposes, should it fall into the wrong hands. The staff eventually began to show a loving affection for Ivan as the staff's power began to grow, to the point of it becoming sentient. While the staff may not be able to move, it reacts magically when Ivan is close-by, and violently when someone other than Ivan touches it. Eventually the staff gains the ability to communicate telepathically with Ivan, and expresses it's devotion and loyalty only to him. It promised to smite Ivan's foes, and fuel his magic at Ivan's command. * Ivan's Family * Sivaria Blackwater (grandmother on father's side) race: Eladrin gender: female occupation / class: Sorceror * Ceryan Blackwater (grandfather on father's side) race: Eladrin gender: male occupation / class: Ranger * Avaris Flightspeak (grandfather on mother's side) race: Eladrin gender: male occupation / class: Nobleman / Wizard (mage) * Maryanne Flightspeak (grandmother on mother's side) race: Eladrin gender: female occupation / class: Swordmage * Isaac Blackwater (father) race: Eladrin gender: male occupation / class: Artificer * Cynthea Blackwater (mother) race: Eladrin gender: female occupation / class: Shaman * Heather Blackwater (1st wife) race: Human gender: female occupation / class: Housewife / Noblewoman * Alexia Blackwater (2nd wife) race: Human gender: female occupation / class: Cleric (templar) / Housewife / Noblewoman * Devrin Blackwater (1st son; from Heather Blackwater) race: Eladrin gender: male occupation / class: Arch Mage Regeant and King Regeant / Warlock * Kywin Blackwater (2nd son; from Heather Blackwater) race: Human gender: Male occupation / class: Bard * Eric Blackwater (3rd son; from Heather Blackwater) race: Human gender: male occupation / class: Swordmage * Alice Blackwater (1st daughter; from Alexia Blackwater) race: Human gender: female occupation / class: Wizard (arcanist) * Vorpin Blackwater (1st grandson; from Devrin Blackwater) race: Eladrin gender: male occupation / class: Sorcerer * Relysia Dorellian (1st grand daughter; from Devrin Blackwater) race: Eladrin gender: female occupation / class: Cleric (templar) * Brogo Blackwater (2nd grandson; from Kywin Blackwater) race: Human gender: male occupation / class: Fighter (weaponmaster) * Lloyd Blackwater (3rd grandson; from Eric Blackwater) race: Human gender: male occupation / class: Fighter (knight)